According to the reports, one in 20 residents in UK have tested positive for the novel coronavirus. With the death toll crossing 35,000 already, measures are being put into place by the health officials to ensure maximum security and protection of the citizens in the country.
The numbers have narrowed down to one in six people in London getting infected with the virus. The reports were stated by Matt Hancock, who is the UK Health Secretary. He said that the government is also planning on giving out antibody certificates.
The antibody surveillance study that has been conducted by the health authorities in the UK have found that 17% of people in London and around 5% people in the other parts of England have tested positive for the presence of the coronavirus antibodies.
The government is also collaborating with pharmaceutical companies like Roche and Abbott for manufacturing over 10 million antibody tests to check who has or had contracted the Covid-19 virus.
The first preference for these tests will be given to the health and social care staff as well as the patients and the care home residents.
The one downsides to these tests is the fact that they are not a 100% foolproof. Germany, which was one of the first countries to order in these tests in millions from Roche reported that they would not use them until they have been debated by the top ethicists of the country.
There have been raising concerns surrounding the issuance of the antibody passports that could end up forming a two tier society in which some people will still be under lockdown while the remaining will have the free reign to move around the city.
“In our view, any documentation that limits individual freedoms on the basis of biology risks becoming a platform for restricting human rights, increasing discrimination and threatening – rather than protecting – public health,” reported one comment.
The level of immunity with these tests are still a mystery. They are not just unreliable, they are also unfeasible and attacks the privacy of some of the marginalised group who are further going to face more scrutiny in the society if presented with the immunity passports.
However, even with all the alarms and the red alerts, the UK government seems to be very persistent on their ground and have also advised the administrations at Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland for the test allocation.
It is still unclear as to how much immunity people develop once they have contracted Covid-19 but some experts believe it is likely that the immunity does last for a period of one to two years.
But, the presence of antibodies in the blood stream doesn’t clearly mean that the person could not pass on the virus to someone else in their close vicinity.
“This is an important milestone and it represents further progress in our national testing programme. Knowing you have these antibodies will help us to understand in the future if you are at lower risk of catching coronavirus, dying from coronavirus and of transmitting coronavirus,” said Hancock.
Hancock has also sanctioned a 20-minutes test to detect whether or not people currently have the Covid-19 or not. The same was done following the criticisms they faced about having to wait for days to get themselves tested in the UK.
The test doesn’t need to be sent out to a lab and if the test results come out to be effective enough, it will then be rolled out to the masses.
During this time, the Downing Street also announced that the migrant health care staff would be exempted from the fee they had to pay for the NHS.
It came after consistent pressure from senior Tories along with Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer who asked them to stave off of the fees imposed.
“This is a victory for common decency and the right thing to do. We cannot clap our carers one day and then charge them to use our NHS the next,” said Starmer.
As for the certificates, Hancock reported that the government is looking into the possibilities and it is likely that the individuals who test positive for the novel coronavirus antibodies will be given the certificates.
The tests are not being conducted just for helping out with the clinical advances. They will also provide with a better understanding of the risks of the patients who test positive for the test.
“We’re developing this critical science to know the impact of a positive antibody test and to develop the systems of certification to ensure people who have positive antibodies can be given assurances of what they can safely do,” said Hancock.
Chief Medical Officer of England, Prof. Chris Whitty has reported that the total number of deaths reported because of Covid-19 is coming down as well.
UK currently has over 254,000 confirmed cases with over 36,000 reported deaths.
